Hey there, deal-hunting legends! Welcome back to your weekly dose of business-buying wisdom—the newsletter that arrives with more excitement than finding out your favorite local business just hit the market (and yes, I'm still riding the high from our newest family addition). Typing this one-handed while bouncing a baby because, just like great investment opportunities, inspiration doesn't wait for convenient moments.

This week’s local deals:

1. Breaking Free: Why I'm Buying My Way Out of the Corporate Rat Race

2. We brought a life into the world but…we left feeling like escaping prisoners

Breaking Free: Why I'm Buying My Way Out of the Corporate Rat Race

Michael, this one's for you. And for everyone else who was told that a college degree plus a "good job" equals security and happiness.

You did everything right, didn't you? Graduated college, landed that corporate position, climbed the ladder. Yet here you are, chained to a desk, staring at another Zoom screen, watching your life tick by in 30-minute meeting increments. The latest round of industry cuts has you wondering if loyalty and hard work actually mean anything anymore.

I see you, Michael. Because I was you.

But I've decided to take a different path—one that leads to true freedom, financial control, and building something meaningful. I'm buying a small business, and here's why this might be the answer you've been searching for too.

What Freedom Actually Looks Like

Buying a small business isn't just a career move—it's choosing freedom:

Time freedom. Taking that extra-long bike ride with my kids on a random Tuesday morning without asking permission.

Ownership freedom. Building something that's truly mine where every success flows to my bank account, not some disconnected CEO's bonus pool.

Culture freedom. Creating a workplace people actually want to be at—authentic, local, focused on people over efficiency metrics.

Impact freedom. Making a real difference in my community through great customer experiences and meaningful local jobs.

The Silver Tsunami: Perfect Timing

We're witnessing the "Silver Tsunami"—the largest business ownership transition in American history:

• 10,000 baby boomers retire daily through 2027

• 40% of all small businesses are owned by boomers

• 2.3 million boomer-owned businesses need new owners

• $10 trillion in business assets transferring over 20 years

The opportunity? Nearly 60% have no succession plan. Only 4% of businesses survive to the fourth generation.

This creates unprecedented buying opportunities for people ready to break free from corporate life.

Why Buying Beats Starting

Unlike starting from scratch, buying an established business is like purchasing a house with proven cash flow:

• Predictable financials: Know exactly what you'll make after debt payments

• Existing customers: Buy relationships and reputation, not hope

• Proven systems: Add your vision to a working foundation

• Financing options: Use leverage like a mortgage—SBA loans, seller financing

• Mentorship: Retiring owners often help with transition

Then you bring fresh perspective and energy to grow the business into its next chapter.

Time to Break Free

This isn't just about individual freedom—it's about preserving the backbone of American business. One in three Americans relies on income from Baby Boomer owned small businesses. When these close without successors, entire communities lose jobs and economic vitality.

By buying these businesses, we're not just creating freedom—we're preserving legacies and ensuring community anchors continue serving neighbors for decades.

It's time to stop building other people's dreams and start building our own.

It's time to prioritize our families and communities over corporate quarterly reports.

Michael, your skills and experience aren't preparation for someone else's success—they're preparation for this moment. The wave is here. The opportunities are abundant.

Are you ready to break free?

We brought a life into the world but…we left feeling like escaping prisoners

Our fourth child, our sweet baby girl Jolene, arrived safely—but not without cost.

We didn’t leave the hospital with joy. We left in tears. Not from pain, but from trauma. Not because of one bad actor, but because of a system that’s lost its soul.

We were treated like a liability to manage, not a family to care for.

Meredith had worked hard to prepare for a peaceful, natural birth. But when her water broke and Jolene was breech, everything changed.

She still wanted to try for a natural delivery. In Scandinavia and other countries, breech births are safely supported.

But here?

We were met with fear, coercion, and even a “joke” from the medical director:

Instead of options, we got pressure.
Instead of care, we got protocol.

Eventually, we surrendered to an emergency C-section.

The force and fear didn’t stop there.

In recovery, when we asked for rest, we were interrupted again and again. Declining one assessment triggered a threat from the charge nurse:

Who is they?

When a young nurse said we’d need to supplement with formula if Meredith didn’t feed “enough,” I could feel Meredith’s rage. This is our fourth child. She knows her body. She knows our rhythm.

And then came the final blow.

We were told we could not leave until our perfectly healthy newborn passed a 90-minute car seat test. When I questioned it?

Refusing the test? He warned CPS might get involved.

We felt powerless. Stripped of dignity. Held hostage by policies with no room for trust.

We came home and cried. Not tears of joy—tears of grief.

Meredith’s body is healing. But her spirit? Shattered.

And I couldn’t protect her.

I couldn’t protect her from a system that prioritizes checklists over connection.

So I ask:

When did institutions stop trusting people?

When did protocols start mattering more than presence?

When did personal care become impossible inside a system built for scale?

It’s not just healthcare. It’s everywhere.

Corporate consolidation. National chains. Algorithms instead of intuition.

When everything is built for efficiency, we lose the one thing that actually creates value: care.

The answer…keeping local businesses…local.

Because local ownership matters.

Because people deserve to be treated like people—not line items, not liabilities, not leads in a funnel.

Because when you own the business, you can rebuild trust from the ground up.

You can train your team to listen.
You can design systems around humans.
You can make decisions that put people first.

We need more of that.

Not just in healthcare, but in every part of our communities.

So here’s to Jolene.
May she grow up in a world where trust isn’t rare.
Where human connection isn’t radical.
Where local businesses bring care back to the center of everything.

Let’s build that world. Together.

Buy local,
Matt @ Acquire & Build